Make It Stand: balancing shapes for 3D printing

Jul.25, 2013

With the advent of 3D printing technologies, it becomes very simple to produce 3D physical models. Unfortunately, because there is usually no indication of gravity, support or weight in a 3D modeler, 3D printed models often fail to balance, making it mandatory to glue the printed objects onto a heavy pedestal.

The authors of Make It Stand want to assist users in modifying existing 3D models to create novel, balanced designs.

"Using our approach, the user interactively edits a shape and cooperates with our optimizer towards the final result. The optimizer constantly improves the design to ensure that, after printing, it will stand on its intended basis with the chosen orientation.

"The input to our algorithm is a surface mesh representing a solid object, a number of desired contact points and the desired orientation (i.e., gravity direction). We exploit two main degrees of freedom when modifying the model: our algorithm carves and deforms the object to improve its equilibrium. We seek to minimize deviations from the intended shape, and therefore the algorithm searches for a compromise between removing matter from the interior and de-
forming the surface. We explore two modes of balancing: (i) standing on a flat surface, and (ii) orientation of suspended objects. In both cases the user specifies as input the base of support or the attachment points. Our method enables to simultaneously optimize for several desired modes, e.g. several standing orientations."

(left) The original horse model does not stand on its hind legs and requires using the tail as a third support. (right) The optimizer deforms the horse to make it stand on a single hind leg.

The optimizer deforms and carves the model (yellow region visible by transparency) to precisely position the center of mass.

With this simple technique users can produce 3D printed objects that stand in one or more surprising poses without requiring glue or heavy pedestals. Watch the video below: